Knowledge Is a TwoSided Sword
by Jamie15
Summary: Originally Chris came back in time to save the future, but what if all of a sudden the future would be endangered just because of him ... ?
1. Gideon Strikes Again

A/N: Hey there! I'm Jamie15 and I'm very new to writing Charmed Fanfiction (actually this is my first one). Therefore there may be some mistakes concerning the content of the series.

Also, I'm no native english speaker, so there may be some grammatical mistakes in the story. Sorry for that!

But anyway, I hope this chapter will be as fun to read for you as it was for me to write!

This story takes place right after Hyde School Reunion in Season 6. So Leo still has no clue, that Chris is his son. Therefore, you could probably call it a Chris Revelation Fic, I think. But anyway, enjoy!

* * *

Chapter 1

Gideon Strikes Again

* * *

Lightning illuminated one of the darkest caverns of the underworld as the demon Chattal once again released his anger on his subordinate Plugger. He was furious. 

„How dare that Elder ...!? Doesn't he know who I am?", he yelled, whilst shooting another one of his lightning bolts. This time it hit the rocky wall on the other side of the cavern as Plugger had been smart enough to dodge his master's attack for once.

„I-I d-don't kn-know master, b-but could you please calm yourself? It certainly won't do any good if you waste your energy now, when, really, you will need it later on, in the fight against the Hall-"

"Argh!", Chattal cried and threw his subordinate across the cavern. "Who said I was going to fight against them?! I most certainly will not follow an Elder's order! Of all the magical beings to come here, really! And to ask _me_ to eliminate the Halliwell's baby! I'm not just any demon who can be assigned missions!"

Plugger cowered in fear as his master again started to throw some lightning bolts. Maybe it was time to console him ... He really had had enough of getting fried by ill-aimed bolts.

"B-but master, maybe he chose you for that reason exactly! Maybe he had already heard of your great power beforehand! Just think about it, who would befit the job better than you? Considering the Charmed Ones' powers there'll probably be next to no one left out there to take on this mission."

That seemed to calm the raging upper-level demon down. He slowly lowered his arms and looked at Plugger expectantly, meaning for him to go on.

Plugger smiled on the inside. It worked!

"There certainly isn't a better demon than you out there in the underworld. The Elder must have been aware of this. He certainly didn't mean to anger or insult you."

Chattal put a finger to his chin and thought it over. Now that he looked at it that way ...

"And just think of the reward,", Plugger continued, "we'll get if we succeed in-"

"If?!", Chattal snapped.

"When, I mean when, of course.", Plugger rushed to assure his master. He didn't want him to lose control over his anger again. Man, he sure was a moody demon ...

"The Elder promised us, that you'd get all of Wyatt's powers, as soon as you succeeded. And just think of what you could do with them ..." Here Plugger paused in order to leave his master some room for imagination, before he continued. "Even with just an eighth of the toddler's powers you could become the new source ... you would definitely be the most powerful demon of the underworld – I mean, of course you already are, but-"

"Enough!", Chattal's sharp voice cut Plugger off, but he wasn't particularly angry at him. After all the low level demon was right. If he would be able to gain Wyatt's powers there would be nothing left on his way to become the most powerful demon. He rather liked that idea ...

"Plugger!", he called. "Gather some demons- Tell them that we plan to attack the Halliwell Manor- I need as many demons, as you can find."

Plugger started to shimmer out, but his master called him back once more. "Oh! And don't forget ..." He smiled a sinister smile. "There'll be a reward for everyone, of course ..."

* * *

When Chris finally got home it was already half past two a.m. He orbed into the living room, looked around and heaved a very deep sigh, before slumping back onto the couch.

"Oh man, that really was an excruciatingly long day ...", he said to himself in a whisper, shortly after covering a yawn with his hand. Rubbing his eyes he let his head fall back as he remembered the day's events.

"_So, I'll attack from behind and scare her, while you will jump out from behind a pillar or something to her left and then you-"_

_Chris sighed and sank down onto the ground, one finger tracing a pattern in the sand, which he had created hours ago. Those warlocks over there really had nothing to do with anyone who might want to hurt Wyatt (he doubted they even knew who he was) ... he had been so sure that this time he was on the right lead, too ..._

"_Damn it!", he whispered, leaning against the rock, which had given him cover for the past hours. _'Again a dead end ..'

_Whilst he was pondering what to do next he didn't notice the two warlocks, who had separated from their fellows after hearing him curse and had blinked in before him._

_When he finally did take notice of them it was nearly too late._

_He just barely had the time to dodge the athame which had been aimed at him before one of the other warlocks kicked at him ... and hit him square in the stomach._

"Ouch.", he silently uttered, whilst putting a hand to his stomach in remembrance. That had hurt ...

_On his knees and clutching his stomach all he was able to see for several instants were stars and little cute birdies, flying around his head. But that didn't mean that the demons were waiting for him to regain his composure._

_Trying to orb out to save himself from the next onslaught of kicks he was immediately grabbed by the leg and thrown to the ground. "Ooof.", was all he could get out in response to that._

_So, having his escape route blocked, Chris was forced to fight. He telekinetically threw some of the attackers across the cavern in order to be able to breathe again. Exhausted from the short fight he fell back, his chest going up and down madly. Chris wildly looked around for a second or two, before he noticed the darklighter arrow pointed at him._

"_Oh, for heaven's sake, can't I get a break for five seconds?", he asked exasperatedly._

"_Umm ..." The darklighter seemed to ponder his question for a few seconds, before answering. "No."_

_And he fired._

_Chris quickly scrambled to his feet again and felt the arrow whizz past him, the tip only mere inches away from his face._

"_Well, that was close ...", he muttered and jumped behind a large boulder close to him._

_Seconds later he gritted his teeth as two or three energy balls hit his hiding place from the other side. Those demons certainly weren't happy about him having listened in on their conversation ..._

"_Why do I have to get on the wrong side of everybody anyway?", he asked himself as another energy ball hit._

"_Okay, that's it, I've had enough!"_

_He stood up again and with several swings of his hands he sent the darklighter and the warlocks flying._

"_See, was that really so hard?", he asked before he finally orbed out._

The rest of the day he had spent researching and after all this mind work he felt especially tired.

His head was stuffed full to the brim.

'_I wish I had one of those pensieves Dumbledore keeps'_, he thought as he made himself comfortable on the couch ready to go to sleep. He had been sleeping in the living room of the Manor ever since Piper had found out that he was, indeed, her son.

Although he had been against moving in with them at first he now was glad that he didn't have to sleep at P3 anymore. That backroom really was uncomfortably cold and stuffed ...

He yawned again and lay back on the couch, careful to keep his feet, still dressed in their shoes, off it. His mom would have a fit if he dirtied the couch with his street shoes ...

Naturally it would have been logical to just take the shoes off, but he was way too tired to care about logic anymore. Closing his eyed he finally gave in to sleep, a thing he hadn't done very often lately. Tomorrow would be just another exhausting day in search of the one who had turned Wyatt, but now that his mother and aunts knew about his true identity it would be worth getting up.

* * *

" ... So the plan is to inform the Charmed Ones of our attack beforehand. Of course, this-"

"Why do we have to inform them of our attack at all?!", one of the smaller demons gathered around Chattal interrupted. One hour ago, Plugger had returned with twenty other demons, that he had managed to persuade to at least listen to the plans of his master. Meanwhile five of them had already shimmered out again during Chattals explanations, thinking it was nothing short of suicide to attack the Halliwell sisters with them knowing about it already.

Plugger silently agreed with them, but didn't dare speak up to his master.

Instead he decided to pay attention to the scene unfolding before his eyes once more.

"I mean, wouldn't it be stupid of us, to let them prepare for it?", the demon asked in a slightly smaller voice, seeing the glare he had received from Chattal.

At first Chattal didn't answer at all. He rather seemed to reign in his temper. Then, after some moments instead of replying he asked a question: "Tell me, erm ..?"

He looked questioningly at the demon.

"I'm a dwarf demon.", he replied, not without obvious pride in his voice.

"Of course you are.", Chattal said as if he'd known all along. "So tell me, dwarf demon, how did all the other demons in history try to attack the Charmed Ones?"

"Well, they ... surprise attacked them.", he said rather faintly.

"And what happened to all those demons?"

"The Charmed Ones ... killed them.", the petit demon replied in an even fainter voice.

"Exactly!", Chattal shouted triumphantly. "That's why we'll try it in another way. We'll let them know about our little attack, so they can prepare themselves."

"Okay, I get that part now.", one of the five warlocks who had assembled spoke up. "But why are we even doing this? I mean, aren't we fine the way we are now? Why attack the Charmed Ones and not just any other witch?"

Chattal again didn't answer right away, but this time it wasn't because he had been angered. He had two options, either he simply fed them the story of wanting to gain more power by defeating the Halliwells or he told them the truth about his meeting with Gideon ...

'_Maybe I should just tell them ... I don't think it will hurt my plans.'_

Looking around and noticing that the warlocks and the other demons were all looking expectantly at him he decided to tell them. After all he had to gain their trust first.

"Yesterday I was paid a visit by the _Elder_ Gideon-"

"Wait you talked with an _Elder_?", a darklighter to his right asked.

"Yes.", Chattal answered. "But let me explain myself first, before you jump to the wrong conclusion.

Just as I came back from my last witch hunt the Elder appeared in my cavern. Naturally I was shocked to see someone like _him_ _here_ of all the places and without thinking I attacked him. Sadly he managed to escape, something that few have ever accomplished-" Plugger secretly rolled his eyes. His master really had enough self-confidence for ten demons.

"So he literally begged me to help him kill Wyatt, the Halliwell's toddler. At first I, of course downright refused to." Appreciative nods everywhere. "But then he told me that I could have Wyatt's powers once he was killed and so I agreed. Now, I know many of you are simply horrified at the idea of socialising with an Elder, but I'm just as sure that you know how strong the Halliwell's kid is. Even with an eighth of his power we would still be mightier than many other demons down here.", Chattal said, quoting his subordinate without recognising that this originally had been his idea.

"How do we know that he didn't lie to us? After all he _is _an Elder. He surely wouldn't want any of us to have such power."

"Oh don't worry about that.", Chattal said with an evil grin. "He wouldn't dare betray me. No one goes behind my back and survives it."

The remaining fifteen demons slowly nodded their heads, satisfied with the reassurances and explanations Chattal had given. He had convinced them to follow him. The upper level demon smiled.

"So, to sum it up, the true target of our attack aren't the Charmed Ones but the toddler Wyatt. We'll make it seem to them as if we were after someone totally else, like, for example their new whitelighter. They'll go into fighting mode and try to protect him while we in reality will go after Wyatt. Does that sound like a good enough plan to you?" He directed that last question at the dwarf demon.

"Y-yes.", he answered, a little scared by Chattal.

"Fine. Plugger!"

Plugger flinched before hurrying over. "Y-yes master?"

"Did you already memorise the floor plans of the Halliwell Manor?"

"Y-yes."

"Well, then come on, explain it to them."

Plugger swallowed before turning around to look at the demons. He didn't like to be in the spotlight at all ... especially not if there was a bunch of demons around him, that was ten times stronger than him.

"A-all in all there are th-three floors in the house, w-which are worth m-mentioning. The attic, w-were the Ch-Charmed Ones usually k-keep the Book of Shadows, the f-first floor, where Baby Wyatt and everyone else s-sleeps and the ground floor, with the l-living room, the k-kitchen, the e-entrance hall-"

"Yeah, yeah, get to the point already!", his master hissed in his ear.

"A-alright. S-so the m-most important f-floors in our interest are p-probably the ground floor, w-where the fights between d-demons and the H-Halliwells are carried out and the f-first floor, where Wyatt sleeps. S-so, in the case of an attack, he should be all alone upstairs, l-leaving him helpless for us."

"Haha, great Plugger!", Chattal called and forcefully clapped him on the back, almost sending him crashing into the ground in the process. "I knew you could do it."

He then turned to the group of demons before him.

"So, now that we know where and how to attack the only thing that's left to consider is how to tell the Halliwell's about it ..."

"I could help you with that."

Chattal looked around to see who had spoken. "Ahh, Mr. Warlock. Go on, go on, share your ideas."

"Well, their Whitelighter is always snooping about in the underworld anyway, isn't he? Always listening in on our conversations ..."

"Yeah he is.", a Darklighter spoke up now. "Only yesterday I caught him listening in on us. But he got away ..."

"Well, in this case I'd say lucky for us!", Chattal said, grinning evilly. "Because if he would be dead now how would we be able to alarm the Charmed Ones? I'll send Plugger on the lookout for him. As soon as he hears of him being in the underworld he'll inform me, won't you Plugger?", he demanded, leaving no room for Plugger to deny the 'request'.

"O-of course."

Everything was settled. Chattal had gained the allies he needed, he had a plan and he was sure that everything would work out in the way he wanted it to.

"Alright, so let the games begin ..."


	2. The Bait

A/N: Sorry for the long wait. I never expected the second chapter to be this hard to write, but there was this one scene, that I just couldn't put into words. I kept rewriting it and then, after the fifth time I somehow gave up ...

Anyway, on with the story and I really hope that at least some of you will bother to write me a review. I really do need to know if you think it's good or if it's plain crap.

* * *

Chapter 2

The Bait

* * *

Sunlight streamed into the living room, illuminating the furniture and walls and, especially, one young witch-whitelighter's face who was just beginning to wake up. Chris' eyes flickered behind his eyelids before he opened them and blinked at the glaring sunlight. 

He looked around himself and noticed that someone had taken off his shoes and put a blanket over him while he had been sleeping.

He sat up and stretched his arms high above him, the blanket falling off in the process.

After he had put on his shoes he walked in the direction of the kitchen where he could already hear his mother bustling about, preparing breakfast and his older brother's gurgling.

He entered the kitchen. "Good morning!", Piper immediately greeted him without looking up from her work with the coffee machine.

"Good morning ...", he replied whilst stifling a yawn behind his hand. "What's the time?"

"Oh, erm ...", Piper mumbled, looking around for the kitchen clock. "It's ... a quarter past ten."

Chris choked on the cookie he had been about to swallow. "W-what??" He broke off, coughing. "W-why didn't you wake me up?"

Piper slowly turned around and looked at Chris. "Well ...", she began. "You were sleeping soundly and because I know that you haven't had a decent nap in god knows how long I thought it best to just ... leave you alone."

"I don't believe it! Piper-"

"Mom.", she immediately corrected.

He looked stunned for a moment. "W-what?"

"It's mom. You called me Piper again."

"Okay, _mom_.", he said , stressing the word. "Did you already forget-"

"That some demon's after Wyatt and you're trying to vanquish him every hour, day and night, in order to save the future? No, Chris, I didn't forget, how could I ever, but you haven't been properly sleeping in days and as your mother it is my responsibility to look after you if you can't take care of yourself, even if you are grown up."

Chris didn't really know what to say in response to that and looked down at his hands. "But still-"

"No. No buts. I'm not forbidding you from going on your demon hunts, which, by the way, I don't exactly approve of, but I want you to at least look out for yourself. Don't you dare collapse somewhere down there from lack of food or sleep or anything, you got it?", she asked, finishing her tirade with a rather rhetorical question.

"I got it.", Chris answered after some hesitation, but his mother wasn't finished yet.

"Besides, with all the time you spend down there, what if some demon found out about you being from the future? I'm sure they would be most interested in what happens to them and everything! Who knows, maybe they'd try to kidnap or hurt you and-"

'_Okay, now the hormones are kicking in ...'_, Chris thought to himself. Ever since Piper had entered her third month of being pregnant with little baby Chris, she would have the typical mood swings. One time she would be happy and everything and the next she would be the fretting mother, he had to face now.

"Mom, relax!", he interrupted her. "Nothing's going to happen to me! I can take care of myself and I'm not stupid enough to go around the underworld, telling everybody I see that I'm from the future!" Chris paused, before he continued in a much lighter tone of voice. "Really, you don't have to worry about me ... I'm fine, I promise."

Piper nodded and stepped closer to embrace him. "I know, but I can't help it. I'm your mother I'll always worry about you." Chris hugged her back for some seconds, before they let go of each other again, Piper resuming her work.

He watched his mother prepare breakfast for a little while longer, remembering his childhood days, when hugs like these were nothing special to him. Now, they and the time he had spent with his mother were the most precious memories he had. He had to savour every minute he could spend with her now, just like his grandfather had said.

Forcing himself out of his gloomy thoughts he decided that there would still be some time left to investigate on the next demon. He started to orb out, but then thought of something, which had been on his heart for a very long time. "Thank you, mom.", he whispered, before he disappeared for real this time.

* * *

„Argh!" 

Plugger winced as he heard another demon being vanquished. Although he was stood behind a pillar of some sort, which gave him a little bit of protection, he was still very afraid of the demons, which were fighting in the centre of the vast cave.

He'd been here for a quarter of an hour already and still there was no sign of the young whitelighter that he was looking for.

"No ... no ... I give up. Noooo!" Another explosion from behind him.

"I'm not here, I'm not here.", Plugger murmured desperately to himself. "I'm on some Caribbean Island, the sun's shining, the sea's splashing, there are beautiful women and children playing in the sand and-"

"Argh!"

Sod it. It wasn't helping at all. Oh, why, why, why had Chattal made him come here? Couldn't he have skipped this one place on his search for the boy? Really, which sane whitelighter would think of coming to a demon's arena out of all the places to gather information?

The jingling sound of a whitelighter's arrival cut through his musings and Plugger rolled his eyes as he recognised the Halliwell's whitelighter, crouched behind one of the pillars not far from him.

Obviously this one whitelighter wasn't a sane one at all.

He sighed and quietly disappeared out of the cave to inform Chattal and the others that the target had arrived.

* * *

Chris started and hastily looked to his left. He could have sworn that only a second ago there had been … but nah … he must have imagined it. 

After all, he would have felt it if there had been somebody else when he'd arrived.

Shaking his head in order to clear his mind he finally looked onto the scene in front of him … only to give himself a mental slap to the forehead.

Originally his idea had been to orb to a well known demon bar in the outer corners of the underworld … the only problem now was that apparently this bar wouldn't come to existence until another ten years or so.

Of course, the other possibility as to why he suddenly found himself in some demonic arena would be that he'd simply missed his destination. But that couldn't be. He hadn't got lost since his fifth birthday, when, in his hurry to get to his presents, he'd accidentally orbed right on top of his birthday cake in the kitchen.

Just thinking about his mother's fury at the destruction of her masterpiece made him flinch. '_She sure was angry, at the time._'

Suddenly remembering where he was he violently jerked himself out of his thoughts and checked if anybody had noticed him.

Luckily nobody seemed to have detected him yet and so he relaxed again.

Figuring that he wouldn't get any information out of the two demons that were left in the arena, he started to orb out again, when a group of warlocks suddenly chose to appear.

Immediately Chris halted in his steps and turned to look at the new arrivals.

"Hey, Alec, what's up?!", one of the warlocks called to the darklighter, standing in the middle of the vast arena.

At first, it didn't seem like the darklighter was going to answer at all, but then: "Nothing much …", he said, rather bored. A rather uncomfortable silence ensued, in which almost everybody fidgeted around nervously. Finally, 'Alec' chose to break the silence.

" … Would you like to join our training?", he asked, gesturing to the female demon, not far from him, all the while sounding like it was the last thing, that he wanted.

"No, 'm not particularly interested right now.", the warlock said relieved, as he approached Alec. The others, who had accompanied him, meanwhile set off to gather around the female.

Chris shook his head, their intentions more than clear to him. '_I guess it'll be better if I stick with those too …_'

"Listen …" the warlock said to Alec, an air of secrecy around him. "I've got something important to tell you …"

Chris ears immediately perked. _Important?_

The darklighter, on the other hand, was seemingly rather uninterested. "…So?"

The warlock looked around the arena. "I'd rather not talk about it here … can we take this over there?"

"Why don't we just go another place?", the darklighter asked, lazily.

"No!", the warlock yelled, nearly tripping over his voice. At the look he got from Alec, he hastened to explain. "Well, I mean, there's no need to go someplace else. It'll only take a few moments."

Although the darklighter didn't seem entirely convinced, he chose to follow the warlock.

Chris too, crept after them, careful to keep the tracks he left in the sand to a minimum, until they finally came to a stop at the other end of the arena.

The warlock made a move as if to start talking right then, but suddenly the darklighter lifted a hand.

"Wait …", Alec said and closed his eyes.

"W-what are you doing?", the warlock stuttered, sounding rather nervous.

"Checking for that dumb whitelighter, who's been listening in on us lately …"

Chris immediately held his breath, ready to orb away, should he be discovered. Nevertheless he was mortally offended. _Dumb?!_

"S-stop that! I don't think that he's around. Really, do you think he would come to a demon's arena to snoop in on us? He can't be that dumb."

Chris let his shoulders sag a bit and mentally rolled his eyes. _Okay, I admit that I didn't thoroughly think this through, but it's not like I came her on purpose … and I'm not dumb!_

But the warlock's words seemed to have at least done the trick and reassured Alec, for he opened his eyes again and harshly said: "Well, then, what is it already?"

Strangely Chris thought that he saw the warlock's gaze flicker in his direction for a second, but he must have imagined it. After all, if he had discovered him, he wouldn't keep it a secret, would he?

Still a little unsure of what he was supposed to think now he tried to concentrate on the conversation.

"… this may sound crazy to you, but I need you to hear me out. So, please don't interrupt me."

The darklighter rolled his eyes. "Fine …", he drawled.

The warlock rubbed his hands against each other. "Sooo … where to start …?", he looked rather lost for a few seconds. "Oh, yes … so last night I went to this meeting with some others and there was lots and lots of talk about power and everything and ... well ... we formed this alliance ... because-"

"Get to the point already!"

"What did I say about interrupting me?"

The two glared at each other for a few seconds. Then 'Alec' chose to end the staring contest by shaking his head and muttering something incomprehensible.

The warlock surprisingly didn't seem fazed at all by this little interruption and continued now with more confidence in his voice. "Like I said, we formed this alliance because we came to the conclusion that only together, as one force, we would be able to start an attack on the Halliwell Manor."

There was silence. Alec seemed to be stunned beyond belief; and he was not the only one. Upon hearing this, Chris had gone as stiff as a board. _W-what?! _His mind was screaming at him to go and warn his mom about this, but the more sensible side of him told him to stay and listen to the conversation for a little while longer.

Finally, after some endless moments, Alec managed to free himself of his stupor. "W-what?! Are you out of your mind?!"

The warlock had obviously expected this reaction. "No. Listen, I know this seems crazy to you-"

"No. No, it doesn't seem crazy at all. To me, it seems way beyond crazy! Jay, tell me, have you really thought this through?! You know what happens to most other demons, that try to kill the Halliwells, don't you?"

_As well he should_, Chris thought while he thought the snarl that was fighting its way out. _Because that's what's gonna happen to him too, if he dares to go near my family …_

Unconsciously he rubbed his knuckles, ready to vanquish this warlock after he'd spilled where the rest of his little friends where. But unbeknownst to him the most shocking part hadn't been told yet …

"Would you please listen to me?", the warlock shouted. "We're not attacking there in order to get to the Charmed Ones, but to get to their whitelighter!"

Again there was silence for a few moments. Chris felt like a bucket of ice cold water had suddenly rushed down his throat.

"Ohh …", Alec said. "Well, I can't say that he isn't a nuisance, but is that already enough reason to kill him?"

"No, but he's got powers too, doesn't he?", the other demon replied. "Telekinetic ones. And he can orb too. Also, he's killed many of your friends, didn't he?"

The darkening of the darklighter's face spoke volumes.

"Wouldn't it be great to avenge them?", the warlock continued to goad him. "And also put a stop him? As you said, he's become quite a nuisance, killed many of us … He's quite dangerous, don't you think?"

When Alec again didn't reply anything, the warlock put an arm around his shoulders. "Come on, I'll tell you about the plan, we discussed yesterday …"

* * *

"Later, girls!", Phoebe called, snatching her purse from the small table in the hallway and making her way to the door. 

"Wait a moment, Phoebe." Piper said, emerging from the living room. "Where are you going? And … why did you dress up like that at this hour?" she asked, eying the fancy dress, Phoebe wore.

Her younger sister turned around, one hand gripping the door handle and looked at Piper incredulously.

"Piper, you know that my time's running out. If I don't find a man and get him to marry me in the next couple of weeks I won't ever have the child which I saw in my vision."

The eldest Halliwell sister alive stared at her younger sibling as though she had lost her mind.

"Phoebe, you're what? Thirty-two? You won't be in your menopause for another, let's say, twenty years. There's no need to get panicky about finding a man."

"You can say that Piper because you don't have to worry about getting anymore children. You already have two. But I, for one, haven't even found the man yet, with whom I'm going to reproduce."

Piper made a face. "Ugh, okay, that was absolutely gross. Change of topic, please."

"But I'm serious." Phoebe insisted.

"No, no you're not. You're not serious, you're delirious." Piper commented. "Hey, that rhymed!"

"Ha, ha." Phoebe said without any humour in her voice.

Piper turned around and went into the direction of the kitchen. "It's only half past ten, anyway. No guy that I'd even consider as my future brother-in-law will be at a café or restaurant or any other place looking for a date at this hour."

Phoebe reluctantly nodded but didn't seem entirely convinced. Then, suddenly, she got an idea. "Speaking of future-", she called, following the path Piper had went. "What if I asked Chris-"

"No, Phoebe, I don't want you to do that." Piper interrupted. "He really shouldn't tell us more about the future than we need to know. It wouldn't do us any good if he did."

Phoebe looked stunned. "When did you side with him?", she asked.

Piper just smiled and sat down at the kitchen table, buttering a piece of toast.

Suddenly a jingling resounded and white blue orbs filed the kitchen as Chris decided to orb in at that moment … right on top of the kitchen table.

Piper jumped out of her seat in a heart beat, dropping her knife on the floor in the process, as Chris stepped right into the butter, slipped and fell down, taking most of the dishes and food with him.

"Chris!", Phoebe and Piper shouted simultaneously and they both immediately knelt down beside him. "Are you okay?", his mother asked him worriedly.

She reached over with her hands but Chris hastily batted them away and tried to raise himself of the ground.

"Stop it, I'm fine, but that's not important right now. You've got to prepare yourselves, they're coming!"

* * *

Well I hope that the third chapter won't take me that long to write! Until then, bye! 


	3. Demonic Espionage

A/N: Hey, I finished chapter 3! Woohoo!!! That didn't take me nearly as long as I'd thought it would ... Nothing else to say except that I'm fairly satisfied how it turned out . So, enjoy!

P.S.: Oh, and please do review! It doesn't matter how much you write, every review makes me happy and keeps me smiling all day!

Disclaimer (forgot that one, the last two chapters I think): Charmed and all of its characters don't belong to me. Period.

* * *

Chapter 3

Demonic Espionage

* * *

There was silence for a few seconds as Piper Halliwell stared down at her son. She'd never seen him this terrified before. 

"What do you mean? Who's coming?", she asked, finally giving him a hand to stand up.

"Yeah, who's they?", Phoebe asked, raising herself form her crouched position on the floor.

Chris started to look desperate which worried Piper and Phoebe even more. "It doesn't matter who they are!", he called. "The only thing that's important now is that you've gotta get out of here! They're only after me so there's no need for you to get involved! I'll handle it."

Piper looked at him in a disbelieving way. "Have you lost your mind?", she asked. "We're not going to leave you alone when some demons are after you! Besides, if you can handle it on your own, then why are you so afraid?"

"And why did you even come here?", Phoebe enquired, hands on her hips.

"Because the demons are going to attack here!", Chris almost yelled. "They know that I live here now, so that's why. And I'm not afraid!"

"Sure you aren't.", Phoebe muttered.

"Look, we don't have time for this. Now where's Paige?", he asked, moving into the parlour of the manor.

"Hold it, Mister." Piper grabbed his arm. "Neither you, nor we are going to leave this house. We're not going to run. Either we'll face this together or none of us will."

Chris looked as if he wanted to argue, but Phoebe interrupted him. "Uh-uh-uh-uh-uh."

"B-"

"No."

"And-"

"Save it.", Piper said. "We already had this conversation."

She watched as her son's mouth opened and closed as he dug for words, but couldn't find any. Finally he crossed his arms, his mouth moving into a pout. "Fine, but you better come up with a good plan. Now where's Paige?"

Before one of the sisters could give an answer there was a crash and the sound of breaking plates coming from the kitchen.

* * *

"Ouch.", Paige winced as she rubbed a sore spot on her back. She was currently in the kitchen, bent over a sizzling, ruby-red potion, her nephew, who she personally blamed for her aches, leaning on the kitchen counter beside her. 

She'd been in her room, reading, when suddenly she'd heard a crash and loud shouting coming from the kitchen. Hurrying downstairs and immediately going into fighting mode she hadn't paid attention to what she was stepping on ... big, big mistake, for when she'd entered the kitchen, the world surprisingly tipped itself upside down.

Grumbling she reached over and grabbed a handful of lavender, throwing it into the potion.

Seconds later her sisters and nephew had come barging into the kitchen, looking ready for a fight, but when they saw her, their serious expressions had changed to astonishment.

After Phoebe had helped her up and explained everything, including why the kitchen floor suddenly looked like a mine field made out of butter and knives, Piper had given them their separate tasks.

And now she was standing here, with an aching back, her sisters at the kitchen table with the Book of Shadows and her neurotic nephew, who'd resumed going in circles in the middle of the kitchen.

"Could you please, stop that?", she finally snapped. "It's distracting me."

Chris stopped and looked up at her. "Well, I'm sorry, but those demons, they are going to be here any second and we're nowhere near ready for them!"

Sensing some kind of quarrel Piper looked up. "Chris, I know that you're worried, but you have to let us work. I promise we'll be ready for them when they come but you moving restlessly around the kitchen is distracting to all of us."

Accepting that Chris moved to lean against the kitchen counter again. "You're right. I'm sorry, Paige, I'm just nervous."

"I understand.", Paige said, looking at him kindly.

She took a bunch of daffodil roots and threw them into the potion. It banged and smoke started to rise from the potion. Paige turned her head to look at Chris and gave him a smile. "Ready."

* * *

"M-master?" 

"What?", Chattal snapped, irritated.

"M-master, I w-wouldn't ever m-mean to judge your d-decisions, but are you sure you want to attack the H-Halliwells? I m-mean, with them b-being forewarned?"

Chattal looked at Plugger as if he was something very nasty on the sole of his shoe. "Yes, why are you asking?"

"W-well, isn't it a bit r-risky? I mean, they'll have p-potions and sp-spells ready now ..."  
"So?", Chattal bellowed. "Wasn't it your idea to attack them in the first place?"

Plugger didn't say anything to that. He and Chattal both knew that neither the one nor the other had had the 'idea', but he refrained from commenting. "I-I'm just worried."

"Ha, don't be.", the upper-level demon laughed. "I've got it all covered. While the others are going to fight against the witches, I'll stay invisible in some corner. Of course, at one point, they'll lose and flee back to the underworld but I'll stay behind. Maybe right after the attack the Halliwells will let something slip which will help us to get to their baby."

"T-that's very clever master.", Plugger said and he meant it. He'd never thought that his master could think up such a smart plan.

"Hm, I know."

"B-but w-why do you need to stage that attack t-then? W-Wouldn't it be e-easier to go there without h-having them warned be-beforehand?"

"Maybe.", Chattal admitted. "But where would the fun in that be, Plugger? You've got to think about style. Fans love style."

_Which fans?_, Plugger asked himself.

Right then twelve or more demons shimmered into Chattal's cave. "Ah.", the demon said and turned to face them. "There you are already. Is everyone here? Yes. Okay, then let's go."

And with the flash of a lightning bolt he vanished with the others in tow.

* * *

"Okay, Wyatt is at Sheila's, everybody's got at least five potion vials, we know the spell for the warlock by heart ... I think we're ready.", Phoebe said, pursing her lips in thought, as she looked at her family. They were currently standing in the hallway of the manor. 

"Yeah, I think so too, but don't underestimate them. They're many.", Chris said.

"Why are they even after you in the first place?", Piper asked. " They couldn't accidentally have discovered that you're from the future, could they?"

"No, I already told you, there's no way they could know that I'm from the future.", he answered a little unnerved. "I rather think that I somehow must have annoyed them and now they're out to get me."

"Well, I can understand that.", Paige said smiling.

"Ha, ha."

"Oh stop it you two.", Phoebe said. "Now we're here, the potions are here ... the only thing that's missing is-" Suddenly the air behind her elder sister started to shimmer. "Demons!", she yelled, eyes going wide.

On reflex she ducked, which was a good thing, because just a millisecond later she heard the sound of an energy ball slamming into the wall behind her.

Chris meanwhile had orbed behind the demons and already taken two of them out, before the third one had managed to side-step the potion thrown at him. The two of them were now involved in a bitter fight, energy balls against jumping out of the way.

Phoebe quickly stood up again to see her sisters who were engaged in their own little fight against some demons.

Deciding to first help Chris she threw one of her potion vials at the demon's back, then she immediately threw herself to the side, as a darklighter arrow whizzed past her, only to be returned to its sender by her nephew. "That was close.", she muttered.

"Tell me about it.", Chris said. "I was standing right behind you."

"Oh."

"Phoebe, Chris, a little help here please!", Piper called, as she finally managed to blow up the demon, which had been playing Hide and Seek with her for the past few minutes.

The two of them were just about to move over to them, when suddenly, they were grabbed from behind by a Brute demon and thrown against a wall. Before he collided with the wall, Chris thought that he brushed against something or someone, but when he looked in the direction from his crumpled position on the floor he didn't see anything. Still aching from the impact, Phoebe raised herself and threw a potion vial at him. He immediately erupted in flames.

Already on the move to finally go help his mother Chris halted in his steps when he suddenly heard a loud crash from upstairs.

_Upstairs?_, he thought. _But why ...? What ...?_

He barely managed to dodge the green liquid that had been aimed at him while he was distracted. He quickly vanquished his assassin while Phoebe took care of the demons, who were throwing energy balls at his mother and Paige. The last demon that was left (a particularly small one) obviously decided that he liked to live, for he shimmered out before any of them could make another move.

"I think I heard a crash upstairs.", Chris said. And he dissolved into blue orbs.

"Wait.", Piper yelled and grabbed onto his arm.

On instinct he orbed into Wyatt's room and found his suspicion correct. _Of course ..._

Just as his mother was about to start blowing the four demons up that had turned the room into a battle field, they shimmered out. A second later Phoebe and Paige orbed in.

"Where did they go?", Piper asked, looking around.

"I've got no idea but I don't think that they're here any longer.", Paige said, looking around. "Whew, they sure managed to wreck this room."

"Yeah and its obvious why.", Chris said. He'd moved over to what used to be Wyatt's crib and picked up a piece of wood. "They wanted to get Wyatt."

"But why? I don't understand. Didn't you say that they were after you?", Piper asked him.

"Yes, the demons I overheard must have known that I was there. It must have been their plan to use me as a bait to distract you from Wyatt."

"Oh, when I get my hands on them ...", Phoebe muttered.

"Well, at least now, we know for sure that they don't know you're from the future.", Piper concluded. "We can deal with them being after Wyatt. I still hate that all the demons in the underworld are after him but it's at least something with which we've dealt before."

Chris didn't seem so sure at all. "I don't know, mom. I mean, these demons that attacked, they were all different. I've never seen darklighters, warlocks, a brute demon and all the others work together like this before, unless they were under somebody's command and if there really is another demon, he's got to be really powerful."

For a moment he thought he saw something, a shadow, by the window, but then it was gone again. He put it off as a swish of one of the curtains.

"Maybe you're right. We shouldn't underestimate a demon just because we've dealt with a similar situation before.", Paige said and then sighed. "I'm going to get Wyatt. If there's really someone big after him, then he isn't safe at Sheila's anymore."

Phoebe nodded. "Alright and we're going to think about what to do next. "

Paige orbed out and Chris, Phoebe and Piper went into the attic after Phoebe had cast a little clean up spell.

As soon as they were gone the air started to flash in the spot where Chris thought he'd seen something earlier.

* * *

A/N: I know, 'twas a bit short, but what can I say? Bye, Jamie 


End file.
